End-of-life care in the Emergency Department for the patient imminently dying of a highly transmissible acute respiratory infection (such as COVID-19)
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End-of-life care in the Emergency Department for the patient imminently dying
of a highly transmissible acute respiratory infection (such as COVID-19)
Ariel Hendin1, 2, Christian G La Rivière3, David M Williscroft4, Erin O’Connor5, Jennifer Hughes6, and Lisa M
Fischer1, 7
1
University of Ottawa Department of Emergency Medicine, Ottawa ON
2
University of Ottawa Department of Medicine, Division of Critical Care, Ottawa ON
3
University of Manitoba Department of Emergency Medicine and Department of Family Medicine, Section of Palliative Care,
Winnipeg MB
4
University of British Columbia Department of Emergency Medicine and Division of Palliative Care, Vancouver BC
5
University of Toronto Department of Medicine, Divisions of Emergency Medicine and Palliative Medicine, Toronto ON
6
University of Calgary Department of Emergency Medicine and Division of Palliative Medicine, Calgary AB
7
University of Ottawa Department of Medicine, Division of Palliative Care, Ottawa ON
Introduction
This document provides a framework for health care providers caring for Emergency Department (ED)
patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 who are nearing end of life. Care of the imminently dying
patient should not differ significantly from standard best palliative care practices, but there are some
pertinent modifications to consider with respect to:
o Non-pharmacological management
o Pharmacological management
o Withdrawal of life sustaining treatments (WLST)
o Support for staff who are providing end-of-life care
Overview
• Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes a spectrum of disease, from mild respiratory illness to
severe acute respiratory distress syndrome.
• Current estimates show that 15% of patients with COVID-19 will develop severe disease and 5% will
require intensive care-level support. In certain scenarios, escalation of life sustaining therapies
(defined as intubation, mechanical ventilation, vasopressor support and/or hemodialysis) will either
not be within the patient’s goals of care (GOC), or will unfortunately be unsuccessful. Overall
mortality risk from COVID-19 is estimated to be between 3-5%1,2.
• Decision-making around GOC should, as always, be patient-centred and addressed early in the
patient’s illness trajectory. Concerns around overall resource utilization in COVID-19 should not
affect individualized decision-making in the absence of clear guidance from administrators and
ethicists.
• The safety and health of care providers and family members of a patient with COVID-19 must be
carefully balanced with meticulous symptom assessment and management to allow the patient to
die comfortably and with dignity.
For all patients:
• Document the discussion around GOC with the patient and/or substitute decision makers and
update the patient’s category status in the medical record.
• Consider involving Spiritual Care, Social Work, and/or Palliative Care if appropriate. Ensure you have
communicated the patient’s COVID-19 testing status, whether confirmed or pending, so that all
providers are aware of the need for appropriate personal protective equipment.
• Notify provincial or territory Organ Donation Organization as per local recommendations.• Place the patient in a private room if possible, with clear instructions to follow contact and droplet
precautions.
• Visitation
o Due to COVID-19, visitation in most centres is being restricted. Please refer to the most up-
to-date local protocols.
o When visiting, family members must follow droplet and contact precautions, including
wearing a procedure mask with face shield, isolation gown, and gloves, and perform hand
hygiene prior to and after their visit3.
o Encourage visits with relatives via telephone or video conferencing if possible to minimize
physical visitors.
Non-pharmacological symptom management
• Recognize that nursing assessments of patients dying of highly transmissible acute respiratory
infections are intensive, time consuming, and require a high degree of cognitive load. This will likely
require a lower patient to nurse ratio and/or frequent relief of nursing duties.
o Assessments will involve:
▪ Frequent symptom assessments using validated tools for signs of distress (pain,
agitation, dyspnea) and provision of medication as appropriate for symptoms4–6.
▪ Frequent patient repositioning.
▪ Eye and mouth care (avoiding deep suctioning).
▪ Emotional support to patient and family.
• Review all medications and discontinue those not contributing to patient comfort.
• Discontinue devices not necessary for comfort or medication administration (i.e. monitors,
nasogastric tubes, additional intravenous lines).
• Discontinue or minimize intravenous fluids and enteral feeding as this does not contribute to
patient comfort nearing end of life7,8. If the decision is made to continue enteral feeding of
intravenous fluids, monitor closely for complications including aspiration and pulmonary or
peripheral edema.
• Consider insertion of a subcutaneous lock for medication delivery.
• Avoid the use of the following as they may generate aerosolized SARS-CoV2 virus
particles and infect healthcare workers and family members9–12.
o Fan
o Oxygen flow greater than 6L/min
o High-flow nasal cannula oxygen
o Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP)
o All nebulized treatments (bronchodilators, epinephrine, saline solutions etc)
Pharmacologic symptom management
While the information below provides recommended dosing of medications to manage common symptoms
patients experience at end of life, dosing and frequency of medication administration should be
individualized based on the patient’s response. Consultation with Palliative Care is recommended if there is
difficulty in managing symptoms.
• Airway secretionso Glycopyrrolate 0.4mg subcut/IV q 4 hrs prn OR
o Scopolamine 0.4 mg subcut/iIV q 4 hrs prn (scopolamine crosses the blood-brain barrier and
will cause more sedation, which may be helpful if the patient is agitated)
• Agitation/delirium
o First line: haloperidol 0.5-1mg subcut/IV q 2 hrs prn
o Second line: midazolam 0.5-1mg subcut/IV q 30 mins prn
o Refractory delirium: consider adding methotrimeprazine 12.5-25mg subcut q 4 hrs prn
• Pain
o If opioid naive
▪ Morphine 2.5-5 mg subcut/IV q 2 hrs prn OR
▪ Hydromorphone 0.5-1 mg subcut/IV q 2 hrs prn
o If opioid tolerant, refer to opioid equi-analgesia and conversion tables for equivalent
subcut/IV dosing
• Dyspnea
o If opioid-naïve, low-dose morphine (50-75% of dose used for pain relief) is the medication of
choice
▪ Morphine 1-2.5 mg subcut/IV q 30 mins prn OR
▪ Hydromorphone 0.25-0.5 mg subcut/IV q30 mins PRN OR
▪ Fentanyl 12.5-50 micrograms subcut/IV q 15 mins prn
o If opioid tolerant, give breakthrough doses to effect
▪ Breakthrough dose is calculated as 10% of the total daily dose of subcut/IV opioid
in 24 hrs
o Second line: midazolam 0.5-1mg subcut/IV q 30 mins prn
o For severe respiratory distress, consideration can be given to ketamine in dissociative dosing
(1-2 mg/kg IV or 4 mg/kg IM) as a temporizing measure until the above medications can be
titrated to effect.
• Nausea/vomiting
o Haloperidol 0.5-1mg subcut/IV q4h prn OR
o Ondansetron 4 mg subcut/IV q6h PRN
• Fever
o Acetaminophen 650 mg po/pr q4h prn
Withdrawal of life sustaining therapy
There will be instances where decisions will be made to withdraw life sustaining therapy such as mechanical
ventilation. For patients who are mechanically ventilated, please refer to local institution guidelines for bestpractices to wean ventilatory support. Given that extubation is considered an aerosol generating procedure and thus can be high risk to health care workers and family members present in the room, our recommendation is to not extubate the patient in the Emergency Department, but to decrease ventilatory support and ensure comfort throughout (see appendix). If extubation is being considered, the patient should be in a negative pressure room and all providers should be prepared with airborne personal protective equipment. Prior to this, we recommend speaking with experts in Critical Care and following best practices for withdrawal of mechanical ventilation. Support to staff who are providing end of life care Being responsible for decisions around resource rationing and utilization, on top of witnessing an increased frequency of suffering and death means ED health care workers are at heightened risk of burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injury during pandemics13. It will be imperative for workplace colleagues to support each other and to perform frequent debriefs. Resources to support ED staff will vary by region and they should be made easily accessible to all. Additionally, resources can be accessed through various licensing authorities and should be strongly encouraged. References
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